30 Million Could Lose Insurance if Obamacare Is Repealed

A recent study conducted by the nonpartisan Urban Institute showed that repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also called Obamacare, without a clear replacement law could put 30 million Americans at risk for losing their health insurance coverage. Although Congress says that won’t happen because they are working on new legislation, their two-stage strategy has raised some concerns.

The plan is for Congress to repeal major portions of the Affordable Care Act in 2017—delaying the effective date months or even years to give legislatures time to write new provisions. The replacement law will presumably provide subsidized coverage for people with health problems—like Obamacare—but without as much regulation from the federal government.

The Urban Institute analysis considers the possibility that the repeal of the ACA passes, but legislation to replace is then delayed. According to the study, 22.5 million people could lose medical coverage directly due to the repeal and 7.3 million could become uninsured due a lack of confidence within the market in the ability of Congress to pass replacement legislation. If this occurs, 59 million Americans could be without health insurance by 2019—higher levels than when Obamacare passed in 2010.